What every Prem club need next season — Part 3 — The Contenders

In the last of this series we look at the Contenders — Leicester, Bath and Northampton. These clubs represent the best within the English game, each with a totally different approach to how they operate on and off the pitch.

Bath

What they need: Improve their set piece performance; progress the stadium redevelopment; hold on to their coach; begin succession planning for Finn Russell.

On the pitch — The most surprising thing about Bath is their underperformance at set piece. For both scrum and lineout, they rank bottom of the league in terms of success. Their league position obviously shows that this may not be as critical as it once was, given they have gone for a more athletic pack. However, coming up against more forward dominating teams may be their undoing. However, they are the kings of attacking play — completing 84.3% (in contrast Harlequins complete 67.4%), committing more than 2 tacklers 57.6% of the time and ranking second for breaks leading to tries (42.6% of the time). They must start moulding Finn Russell’s successor however. Last night’s game against Bristol showed how much their attack can shrink when he’s not on the pitch.

Off the pitch — The stadium saga rumbles on. The fact that the second-placed team in England has a ground with temporary stands says a lot about the contradictions in English rugby. Compare this to the second placed team in France, Montpellier, whose 15,000 seater stadium is one of the best looking in France. The recent salary cap report further showed that Bath are bankrolled rather than being self sustaining, spending the most on salaries and their academy. With more money coming in from Dyson its hard to see how they will move to a more sustainable model without a new, larger stadium.

The Coach — Johan van Graan, often seen with his notebook in hand on the side of the pitch, is a master tactician. He has made Bath contenders after they spent years in the wilderness. Can he help push them on even further in Europe?

Key players: Finn Russell, Ben Spencer, Will Stuart, Ted Hill

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Leicester

What they need: Keep Geoff Parling; evolve their all-round game; sort finances; do better in Europe

On the pitch — By far the hardest team to analyse. To say they are a jack of all trades would be unfair. They are mid-level in a lot of metrics — ruck speed, play over 5 phases, possession per try, scoring from first phase. However, they are head and shoulders above many of their peers. They score nearly 20% of tries from kick returns, win 95.2% of opposition restarts, make 2.7m per maul and make the most touches before an error at 34.2. This tells us that Leicester are a low-error team who will punish mistakes that any team makes, propelling them up the table. They need more power up front perhaps and its interesting that they have gone for a lot of experience in their recruitment. They do need more at half-back, second row and in the centres and Europe seems more like a hindrance than an objective.

Off the pitch — Leicester are England’s best supported club, but this season there have been a lot of empty seats at Welford Road. Some fans speak to pricing, but perhaps this was more about the unknown after Michael Cheika. Financially though the Tigers reported an operating loss of £4.5m for the year ended June 30, 2025, compared with £3.7m in 2023–24.

The Coach — Geoff Parling, perhaps the most underrated second row of his generation, is vital to their progression. His reputation has grown very quickly in Australia and he will definitely be in the England reckoning when Borthwick moves on.

Key players: Joe Hayes, Ollie Chessum, Billy Searle

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Northampton

What they need: Hang on to their best players; evolve playing style; keep recruiting from the Champ.

On the pitch — Perhaps the most balanced team in the Prem in terms of kick returns, set piece and turnover stats. However, they have built this from a physical defence, led by Lee Briers, with an 86.8% tackle success. Saints perform very well across key stats that put the opposition under pressure — 91.4% lineout success, 61.7% of rucks under 3 seconds, almost half of their breaks leading to tries, ranked first in terms of dominant tackles and dominant carries. Losing Furbank however, and potentially opening the door for George Hendy to nail down a permanent position at full back may influence their style. The two are very different players — Furbank is more of a second playmaker, compared to Hendy’s all out style. With Phil Dowson, the team look like they could evolve even more.

Off the pitch — Furbank left because Saints could not match Harlequins’ offer; Pollack has signed on with Eddie Hearn; increasingly they have more internationals on the pitch who will need to be paid more. The Prem’s salary cap report showed that they were under the salary cap and invest in their academy. With a £700k loss last year, they are relatively well run, but bigger names bring bigger challenges. So recruiting from the Champ is a key part of the club’s strategy, when they need some good experience in certain positions.

The Coach — Dowson, a popular and innovative coach, will inevitably be on England’s radar and probably the most likely to be top of the list. Having a Prem win percentage rate of over 70% puts him in the same bracket as coaches who could transition to international coaching (O’Gara, Mola, Franco Smith, Cullen and van Graan).

Key players: Finn Smith, Callum Chick, Alex Coles, Tommy Freeman

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